David Turner enters plea in molestation case

Turner will serve nine to 20 years in a state correctional facility for molesting two girls.

Colleen Seidel/The Record Herald

David L. Turner will serve nine to 20 years in a state correctional facility for molesting two girls, one on a regular basis since 2009 and the other earlier this year from February to March.

Turner pleaded no contest to two counts of aggravated indecent assault Wednesday afternoon in front of Judge Douglas W. Herman in the Franklin County Courthouse. He will be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2013, and will undergo a sexual offender assessment before sentencing.

'No contest'

Herman told Turner that his plea of no contest "has the same effect as if you were found guilty by a judge or jury."

He added that the plea signified that Turner had "no objection to the evidence" and did "not wish to present a defense."

District Attorney Matthew Fogal told the judge what would have been used as evidence had the case gone to trial, including testimony from the two girls about the sexual assaults.

The reason for the plea agreement, Fogal said, was "to protect the victims from testifying" in a jury trial that could have caused them emotional stress.

Fogal added that the girls' mother, who was in the courtroom for Turner's arraignment, did not want the girls to testify.

The incidents

According to police documents, Turner, 44, had repeated sexual contact one girl, now 13, in Antrim Township from 2009 until August 2012.

A second affidavit from police reported that Turner also molested a 16-year-old girl at the same location in Antrim Township from February to March 2012.

Turner was arrested on Sept. 5 and charged with two counts each of criminal attempt of rape, indecent sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault.

He has been held at Franklin County Jail since September on $25,000 bail.

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